Hose winder



HOSE WINDER Filed Jan. 19, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIGI.7.

Inventor WILLIAM P. DEN

Attorney W. P. EDEN HOSE WINDER Jan. 20, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledJan. 19, 1955 Invent or WILLIAM P. EDEN B Q Attorney United StatesPatent HOSE WINDER William Paul Eden, Port Arthur, Ontario, CanadaApplication January 19, 1955, Serial No. 482,859

9 Claims. (Cl. 242-86) This invention relates to improvements in a hosewinder and appertains particularly to a device for winding lengths ofnew or used hose, of the kind used in forest fire fighting, in tightribbon-pack rolls so that they may be compactly stored in a form inwhich they are ready for use.

Some hose winders are designed to be permanently mounted and used alwayswith but one roll of hose that may or may not be constantly connected byone end to the fluid supply line. the holder or carrier for its singlelength of hose. The present winder is intended for use in tightly andneatly rolling one length of hose after another in rapid succession andto this end has a novel winding drum or mandrel on which the hose iseasily applied and from which the finished ribbon-pack roll can be aseasily and quickly removed, be 7 subsequently tied or preferably fittedwith a combined storage tie and carrier, such as that described in myPatent No. 2,733,024, and then stored away, ready for immediatetransport to a fire and already mounted on its individual hose-layingcarrier.

It is an object of the invention to provide a device for windingsuccessive lengths of forest fire hose, in tightly wound ribbon-packrolls ready to be tied and stored, having a novel winding drum forproducing an improved ribbon-pack roll, on which drum the hose may beeasily mounted for'starting the roll and from which the finished rollmay be easily and quickly removed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hose winder withimproved hose engaging means that may selectably secure the hose to thedrum by the hose coupling at either end of the hose or by the loop biteat or near the center of a length of hose doubled on itself and that isreadily releasable from hose engagement without disarranging thefinished roll.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hose winder in whichthe roll of hose throughout the winding operation is supported onopposite sides by a pair of adjustably spaced, rotatable, independentlysupported disks which are laterally separable by the axial sliding ofone of them for the removal of the hose roll.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a hosewinder for producing finished rolls of improved quality by having a feedguide that additional tofiattening and strengthening the hose isadjustable to impart the exact tension desired to the length of hoseleading to the winding drum.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a-hosewinder of the nature and for the purpose specified that is of generallyimproved structure, will produce rolls of better quality and because ofits novel system of loading and unloading can turn out more rolls in agiven time.

To the accomplishment of these and related objects as shall becomeapparent as the description proceeds, the invention resides in theconstruction, combination and arrangement of parts as shall behereinafter more Such winders then serve also as 2,869,800 Patented Jan.20, 1959 fully described, illustrated in the accompanying vdrawings, andpointed out in the claims hereunto appended.

The invention will be best understood and can bemore clearly describedwhen reference is had to the drawings forming a part of this disclosurewherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the severalviews.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a preferred embodiment of this hosewinder;

Figure 2 is an end elevation thereof as: seen at right angles to Figure1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged end elevation of the adjustable tensioningdevice;

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the tensioning device as seen at rightangles to Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an enlarged elevational detail of the winding drum;

Figure 6 is an elevation of the outer face of the right side of saiddrum as seen at right angles to Figure 5;

Figure 7 is an enlarged elevation of the releasable arbor keeper as seenat right angles to Figure 2; and

Figures 8 and 9 are elevation and plan view respectively of the couplingholder, shown at the top of Figures 1 and 2.

In winding lengths of hose, such as is used in forest fire fighting, itis most desirable that the finished ribbonpack rolls have the spirallingconvolutions wound with uniform tightness to prevent their accidentaldisarrange ment, the coupling so positioned and held at the center; of asingle wound hose that the coupling lugs do not project beyond the sidesof the roll and the opposite, sides of the single width ribbon-pack rollbe substantially smooth or straight and even. Furthermore, for modernpractice in tying the rolls for storage and subsequently mounting themon hose-laying carriers, the roll of hose would have the hole ortransverse passage at its center, immediately behind the coupling forthe passage of the storage tie cord or reception of the axle of thecarrier. All of these desirable hose roll features are obtainable withthe presently disclosed hose winder,

rendering it the only winder completely acceptable for producing hoserolls suitable for fast and convenient mounting on the combined hose tieand carrier disclosed in my Patent No. 2,733,024. Briefly, in themaintenance of large stocks of forest fire fighting hose, the foregoingfeatures of wound and tied rolls spell good and economical housekeeping,where the storage of fire hose is concerned, which ultimately andinvariably reduces the time required to bring this equipment intooperation in fire suppressing action.

In carrying the invention into practice, I employ a frame that is hereshown as comprising a pair of inverted U-shaped members 1 and 2, whoserespective crossbars 1a and 2a are hingedly connected as by the links 3.The U-shaped frame member l is wider than the member 2 so that its legs1b, 1c are separated a greaterdistancethan the legs 2b, 2c of thelatter. Each frame member has a crossbar 1d and 2d about midway of itsheight between which an upwardly jackknifing toggle arms brace 4 ismounted to normally hold the members of the frame angularly extended, asshown in Figure l and yet permit of the folding of the frame partstogether for storage or transporting.

A pair of spaced struts 1e and 17 run from the mid height crossbar 1d tothe top crossbar 1a and on the outer side of each of these struts andboth legs 1b and 1c are disposed shaft bearings 5, all of which are inaxial alignment. A shaft 6 is journalled in the bearings 5 on leg 10 andstrut 1 and has a hand crank 7 on its outer end beyond the bearing onleg 1c and a collarS alsosecured thereon just within the last mentionedhearing, whereby the shaft is held against longitudinal .or axialmovement. A second shaft 9 is journalled in the bearings on leg 1b andstrut 1e. A bolt 10 carrying a jamb nut 11 is threaded in the outer endof the shaft 9 and is adjustable to vary the over-all length of theshaft. Hinged on-the leg 1b above the-bearing S and receivable in a seat12 also on the said leg below the bearing is a flat,-swinging,knife-like abutment 13 that closes across the open outer end of thebearing 5 to normally lock the shaft 9, otherwise free to slide axially,against unauthorized outward movement. On the inner end of each of theaxially aligned shafts 6 and 9 is a disk 14 herein shown as secured totheend of-the shaft by --an axial bolt 15 and being reinforcednear itscenter bya backing plate 16. Preferably the disks are of substantiallythe diameter of a fullroll of hose and their confronting faces arenormally spaced a distance just'exceeding the width of the hose whenpressed flat. The accurate spacing of this pair of disks, made possibleby theend adjustment on the shaft 9, is essential to the winding of thehose in the tailored-like ribbon-pack rolls with straight, smooth, evensides that are so important if the rolls are subsequently to be laidwith the carriers now being used.

Extending inwardly from each diskis an eccentrically disposed finger 17,circular in cross-section and tapering towards its free inner end.Furthermore, the inner end has a stepped formation 17a of semi-circularform of such proportion that when the fingers of the confronting pair ofdisks are in registry and the shaft 9 is moved inwards into closedposition, the stepped ends of said fingers engage in over-lappedrelation as seen in Figures 2 and 5 whereby rotation of thecrank-operatedshaft 6 is transmitted to shaft 9 and the abutting of theend of each finger with the step of the other acts as a stop to limitthe inward movement of the axially slidable shaft 9. Each disk 14 alsocarries a smaller pin 18, shorter than the finger ,17 and also eccentricto the axis; these pins may be located at an angle of approximately 135to the fingers and come into alignment when the stepped fingers 17 arein aligned over-lapping engagement. They serve in conjunction with thefingers to engage opposite sides of the flattened end of the hose andanchor the coupling for the start of the roll. In inserting the hoseend, it is easy to arrange the coupling so that the lugs of the couplingextend vertically rather than horizontally so that in the finished rollsuch coupling lugs do not projectlaterally from the sides of the flatribbon-pack roll. If it be desired to roll the hose double, with bothmale and female couplings at the outside of the roll, the pins 18 engagethe bight of the fold at the middle of the doubled hose.

It will thus be apparent that a length of hose may be Wound into a tightstraight walled ribbon-pack roll on the mandrel structure described andreleased therefrom by opening the knife-like swinging abutment 13permitting the shaft 9 to slide outwards, separating the disks 14 andwithdrawing the small short fingers 18 and the tapered fingers 17 fromopposite sides of hose roll in which the said fingers leave a hole ortransverse passage at-the center through which a storage tie cord or theaxle of ahose laying carrier may be passed.

That the hose may be rolled in a single width, ribbonpack roll with thesuccessive spiralling convolutions of the desired and uniform tightness,a hose flattening and tension adjusting device is mounted, in alignmentwith the winding mandrel, on the frame member 2, through whichthe hosepasses as itis being fed to the winding drum or mandrel. ,A feed guidemember 20 includesa pair .of laterally spaced, inverted l.-,shape d:sides 20a with the free ends of the upper horizontal arms connectingtothe crossbar 2d and the free lower ends of the vertical arms connectingto another cross rod Zx-extended between the legs 2b and 2c of thenarrower frame member 2 at a point below the aforementioned crossbar 2d.In the top of the guide member 20 between the L-shaped sides 20a is achannel shaped shoe 20b over which the hose passes and in spacedrelation above the shoe is a roller 21 extending transversely of thechannel and carried on a shaft 22 that is connected by a vertical pivot23 to the guide member 20 so that it may be opened first to admit theleading end of a hose just behind the loading coupling and again torelease the hose just in advance of the trailing coupling. The free endof the roller shaft may close under a rigid keeper arm 24 suitablysecured to the guide 20. The shoe 20b and superposing-roller 21 act on apassing length of hose to flatten it like a ribbon and take out kinksand twists. An open, horizontally disposed, substantially rectangularframe 25 is suspended by a spaced pair of straps 26 from the crossbar2d. Toward its forward end, its opposite sides have registering pairs ofnotchesv 25b along the lower edge for selectively straddling the lowercross rod 2x. A roller 27, of preferably non-circular cross-section ismounted near the rear of the adjustable frame 25, extending transverselythereof.

In feeding a length of hose upwardly over the shoe 20b of the guide 24then downwards under the roller 27 in'the adjustable frame 25 thenceupwardly to the winding drum, a substantial tension is imparted to thelength of hose between the guide and the drum because of the reverse or8 curve contour of the feed. By adjusting the set of the frame 25, theacuteness of the reverse or 8 curve contour of feed is varied to impartthe desired tension to the hose being Wound, thereby enabling thewinding of the roll to the desired tightness. The aligning of the guideand tensioning device with the Winding drum may be done by making themslidable on the bars 24! and 2x and securing them in the desiredtransverse position as by the collars 28 on bar 2d.

For reconditioning the couplings on hose being re- Wound into rolls onthis winder, I provide a holder 30 mounted on the crossbar 2a of framepart 2. it has a vertical opening through which the coupling may beinserted upwardly, being elongated transversely to pass the lugs of thecoupling and notched on opposite sides at the top to seat the lugs whenan inserted coupling is rotated Thus supported the threads of thecouplings can be reamed or tapped by a conventional hose die, not shown,that is normally carried on a bracket 13 on the frame part 2.

In use, when the foldable frame has been set up with the hingedlyconnected frame parts spread open and rigidly braced by the toggle 4, aused length of hose to be wound is first prepared by reconditioning themale and female end couplings by successively positioning them in theholder 30 and reaming or tapping them with the usual hosedie. The malecoupling end of the hose is then run over the opened guide, under theadjustable tensioning device roller and applied to the winding drum, thesliding shaft being locked in closed position and the guide shoe rollerclosed. Then when the hose has been tightly rolled, all but the lengthfrom the drum to the guide, the guide is opened and the female couplingallowed to pass and wind on the outside of the roll which is removedradially from the drum on release of the shaft lock and the lateralspreading of the drum disks and the accompanying withdrawal of the diskfingers and pins from the roll which can be either tied or mounteddirectly on the combined hose laying carrier and hose tie hereinbeforementioned, and stored in a condition ready for immediate use. I

From the foregoing description taken in connection with :theaccompanying drawings, it will be manifestthat a hosewinderis providedthat will fulfill all the necessary requirements of such a device, butas many changes could be made in the above description and manyapparently widely different embodiments of the invention may beconstructed within the scope of the appended claims, without departingfrom the spirit or scope thereof, it' is intended that all matterscontained in the said accompanying specification and drawings shall beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limitative or restrictivesense.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is:

l. in a hose winding device for winding successive lengths of hose inribbon-pack rolls and which includes a frame, a rotatable winding drummounted on said frame, means for rotating said drum, said winding drumcomprising a pair of axially aligned shafts one of which is engaged bysaid rotating means, a pair of spaced confronting disks mounted rigidlyone on the inner end of each of said shafts, one of said shafts beingslidable axially inwardly toward and outwardly from the inner end of theother shaft whereby said disks may be separated laterally into openroll-removing position, means for preventing the outward movement ofsaid axially slidable shaft, and hose engaging means disposed on theconfronting sides of said disks, longitudinal adjustment means on saidslidable shaft engageable by said means for preventing the outwardmovement of said shaft, thereby allowing of varying the inward or closedposition of said slidable shaft and the resulting spacing between saidpair of confronting disks.

2. A hose winding device for winding successive lengths of hose inribbon-pack rolls including a frame, a winding drum rotatable on saidframe and means for rotating said drum, said winding drum comprising apair of axially aligned shafts one of which is engaged by said rotatingmeans, a pair of spaced confronting disks mounted one at the inner endof each of said shafts, one of said shafts being slidable axiallyinwardly toward and outwardly from the inner end of the other shaftwhereby said disks may be separated laterally into open roll-removingposition, means for preventing the outward movement of said axiallyslidable shaft, and a finger extending inwards from each disk the innerends of which are of oppositely I stepped semi-circular form in crosssection for engagement one with the other in overlapped relation whensaid slidable shaft is moved inward toward the other shaft whereby therotation of the driven disk is transmitted to the other disk.

3. A hose winding device having a winding drum as defined in claim 2,wherein the oppositely stepped inner ends of said fingers abut inoverlapped relation to serve as a stop and limit the inward movement ofsaid slidable shaft.

4. A hose winding device having a winding drum as defined in claim 2,wherein said engageable fingers are each tapered toward their inner endsto facilitate their withdrawal from a roll of hose when said slidableshaft is moved outwardly to laterally separate said disks.

5. In a hose winding drum comprising a pair of aligned shafts eachhaving a disk on its inner end, a pair of inwardly projecting fingersmounted eccentrically one on each of said disks and having overlappinglyengageable inner ends, and a pair of pins shorter than and spaced fromsaid fingers and also mounted eccentrically one on each of said disks,said respective pairs of fingers and pins being designed to receive theflattened portion of a hose between them and being too narrowly spacedto pass the coupling on the hose and serve to anchor the same; one ofsaid shafts being axially slidable whereby the disks and disk-carriedfingers and pins are laterally separable to allow of the removal of aroll of hose radially with respect to said disks.

6. In a hose winding drum as defined in claim 5, said eccentricallydisposed fingers and pins lying at an angle of approximately to oneanother and said pins being substantially aligned in spaced relationwhen the inner ends of said fingers are engaged in overlapped relation.

7. A hose winding device comprising a foldable, normally spaced, twopart frame, each part in the form of an inverted U with the crossbar atthe top and one of said inverted U parts being narrower than the other,a rotatable winding drum mounted on the wider of said frame parts, and ahose guide mounted on the narrower of said frame parts and transverselyadjustable for align ment with said winding drum, said hose guideconsisting of a channel shaped shoe over which the hose is designed topass, a roller disposed transversely of said channel shaped shoe andspaced thereabove for flattening the hose as it passes between said shoeand roller, anda shaft on which said roller is rotatable hingedlymounted at one side of said shoe and swingable horizontally to the sideof said shoe for inserting or removing a hose.

8. For a hose winding device as defined in claim 7, a hose tensioningdevice suspended from said hose guide and consisting of an open,horizontally disposed, longitudinally swingable frame, straps connectingsaid frame to said hose guide, a roller across the inner end of saidframe under which a hose is designed to pass between said hose guide andsaid winding drum and being disposed below said guide causes a passinghose to describe an S or reverse curve path; said longitudinallyswingable frame being adjustably and releasably engageable with saidhose guide for holding said tensioning frame in the desiredlongitudinally swung position.

9. A hose winding device as set forth in claim 8 wherein the roller inthe longitudinally swingable tensioning device is of non-circularcross-section.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS394,556 Coleman Dec. 18, 1888 1,467,841 Cumfer Sept. 11, 1923 FOREIGNPATENTS 532,978 Great Britain Feb. 4, 1941

